MANGALURU: Beach cleaning across coastal Karnataka is increasingly turning out to be a community affair.
BoskyOrb, a group of like-minded youth, mostly college students, who call themselves nature healers, have been cleaning the Thota Bengre Beach under the campaign "Broom my beach" since the last 80 days. They have lifted nearly 20 tonnes of trash, of which 80% is slippers and thermocol, in addition to 5% medical waste.
Shreyas Holla, a CA student, along with his friend Harsha Kotian, a lecturer, launched this initiative in October along with Manisha, Harsha’s sister. What began as a three-member campaign, was soon able to draw around 20 people, mostly students in the 18-23 age group.
“We selected this beach as it is one of the toughest to clean. It’s a delta point—where the river and sea meet, and the breakwater stops a lot of waste from coming into the sea, and thus a lot of trash gets accumulated on the shoreline. We gradually plan to clean the entire stretch from the sunset point in Bengre to the Tannir Bhavi,” explained Shreyas.
Sanket Bengre, a swimmer and businessman, who launched cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for fishermen and locals last year, and who has joined the Broom My Beach campaign said that once launched, there has not been a single day when the drive was halted. The team cleans the beach every day between 6.30am and 8.30am. “We were segregating the waste too, but since no one was interested in collecting thermocol for recycling, the waste is piled up in a corner, and then handed over to the Mangaluru City Corporation,’’ he said. All biodegradable waste is segregated.
On January 17 the team will complete more than 90 days of work on the beach, and a programme is planned to mark the celebration.